The Best Detective (story by Jill prompted by Jennifer's image)

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Jennifer gave me this photo on June 18, 2021, as my writing prompt. The things that I honed in on were the sign that said "Retail Space" and the white car parked in backwards on the other side of the parking lot. And here's what I came up with ...

The Best Detective

    Cammie sat in the driver seat of her friend Dori’s car. On some level she knew it was wrong to stalk her friend, Becca, but she certainly couldn’t do it in her own car! That would just be insane. Besides, Cammie could tell that Becca wasn’t telling her something. And she had to know what it was. I mean, come on, she and Becca had been friends since the third grade. They didn’t keep secrets. Well, I mean, Cammie obviously did—as she was currently sitting in another friend’s car following Becca around the neighborhood. But that irony was lost on Cammie.

    Since the surveillance had begun at about 9:15 a.m., they had been to the dry cleaners, and then Becca had gotten her nails done. A short trip back home for Becca and now she was here, walking around an empty space at a strip mall with an older lady holding a clipboard. What in the actual world was happening? This made no sense to Cammie. 

    Also, this was about as boring of a surveillance as it could get, and, believe me, Cammie had been on several. 

    Any time a friend started to get a little bit secretive, Cammie got to the bottom of it as quickly as possible. 

    The first time solving a mystery, Cammie had broken the news that JoAnna’s parents had split up. That was a huge deal in the fifth grade! The next time she busted Dixie for sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend in the eleventh grade—two weeks before prom. That made for some fun shuffling around of the table seatings at the prom. Cammie had the early report on Dylan and Theresa’s engagement, Tiffany’s pregnancy, and Dave and Karen’s split, too. 

    Thinking back on all of those, made her miss those friends a little. It was weird how she didn’t really hang out with that old crew anymore. As Cammie sat there, in Dori’s borrowed car, she wondered what those friends had been up to. 

    Well, there was always the weekend to find some of that stuff out though.

    She redirected her focus from those memories to the situation at hand … Dori. Cammie was certain that she would get to the bottom of this whole lady with the clipboard thing. And what a fun surprise it would be for Cammie to share!

—Jill Morse (written June 25, 2021)

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